Editor’s Note — This article is part of a series that highlights local businesses hiring in 2020 and provides resume and interview tips for members of the community. If you’re a local business owner and would like to be featured, contact McKenzie Caldwell at 937-402-2570 or [email protected].

ResCare is under new management and hiring for second and third shift positions, Residential Manager Tonia Mosley told The Times-Gazette.

ResCare is an intermediate care facility that provides housing and care for people with developmental disabilities. In Hillsboro, ResCare has three homes as well as supported living locations. The Hillsboro ResCare branch merged with the Williamsburg branch toward the end of 2019. ResCare has a new executive director and new management, who Mosley said are focusing on better integrating ResCare residents into the community.

The Hillsboro branch is currently looking to hire direct support professionals (DSPs), who work with residents to help them learn what Mosley calls “daily living skills,” so they can become more self-sufficient.

“We’re not a nursing home. This is their actual home. We help apply ‘daily living skills’ to the residents to help them better achieve their goals,” Mosley said. “You can ask them to complete a task, but it might not be something they can, at first, complete on their own, and that’s where staff would come in to complete those chores. Our plan is to help them to learn to take care of themselves in a manner that they one day could move into their own apartment with minimal staff and take care of themselves and their needs.”

DSPs, Mosley said, spend the most time with ResCare residents.

“They’re the ones who are hands-on with the residents every day,” Mosley said. “You’re going to wear a lot of different hats. One day, you could be housekeeping, one day you could be somebody just to sit and listen. Not every day is the same.”

Mosley said residents and staff often feel like family.

“These are the people that they see every day,” Mosley said. “You impact their lives every day.”

Second-shift DSPs help residents with their medications, hygiene, cooking, cleaning their rooms and doing their laundry.

Third-shift DSPs’ primary duties are to check on residents while they sleep and to perform housekeeping duties.

Mosley said successful candidates will be positive, caring people with a sense of humor, patience, strong communication skills, and big hearts who want to make a difference in someone else’s life. They should be open-minded and expect the unexpected and shouldn’t hold a grudge. Candidates should be able to multi-task and prioritize.

“What I look for when interviewing is how they’re going to do under stress and how they’re going to communicate because some of our adults have communication barriers,” Mosley said. “Some do not speak, some may sign, some may grunt and point, so you have to have a lot of patience.”

ResCare requires DSPs to have a high school diploma or GED and a driver’s license, and they must pass a background check, which ResCare will pay for, but prior experience isn’t necessary, Mosley said.

“You just have to have an open mind and open heart. You don’t need any qualifications because we’ll teach you,” Mosley said.

Once hired, ResCare employees must complete a three-day orientation that covers topics like safety, first aid and CPR. ResCare pays for all training and certificates and offers tuition reimbursement. ResCare will also work with employees to accommodate their schedules while they’re taking classes.

DSPs also have room to advance within ResCare.

ResCare employees are union members. On Jan. 17, Mosley said, ResCare is going to a union contract, which will increase pay. Mosley also said that they’re working on paying an increased wage for second and third shift.

Mosley said she has a good feeling about ResCare’s new executive director, Teresa Moran.

“I’ve been doing this job since the early 2000s, and I’ve been through many executive directors over the years. Meeting her, I really feel that we’re going to grow.”

Mosley said the Hillsboro and the Williamsburg locations are also hiring LPNs and RNs.

Resume and interview tips

Do your research — “If you’re going to a job interview, maybe do a bit of Google work to see what an employer does, so you can have full answers instead of one-word answers to the questions we might ask,” Mosley said. “Prepare for what you’re going in. Don’t go in and be blindsided. If you’re applying for the job, kind of followup, ask what their requirements are.”

Turn off your phones — “Don’t answer your cell phone in the middle of an interview or bring your kids to an interview,” Mosley said.

Showcase your abilities — “What are your personal skills? What are you bringing to the table when you come in here?” Mosley said.

To apply for any of the positions at ResCare, go to rescare.com/careers to fill out an application. You can also apply through indeed.com or by visiting their Hillsboro office at 141 Catherine St.

Reach McKenzie Caldwell at 937-402-2570.